Shepherd's Clinic Journal Paper

One of the major aspects of patient health is adequate diet education. In the hospital, diet restrictions are common, especially on the cardiac floor. By fully understanding health risks associated with an unhealthy diet, patients are able to control their diet properly with the information they were provided. Current evidence shows that nutrition education sessions can positively affect patient clinical outcomes (Abshire et al., 2015, p. 989). As a nurse’s responsibility is to be aware of the current practices on nutrition education and provide the patient with up to date information. For example, in 4B there are several patients with a sodium- restricted diets. Research has shown strong positive relationships between sodium and blood pressure. It indicates that limiting sodium in diets can reduce cardiovascular incidents. Studies have documented when sodium intake was reduced by 4.4 g/ a day for at least a month, blood pressure decreased by 4 mmHg in systolic readings and 2 mmHg for diastolic readings (Suckling & Swift, 2015, p. 585-586). If nurses are aware of these implications, they can confidently apply them

My short-term goals are to enhance my knowledge of medical nutrition therapy, to gain experiences in all aspects of the dietetic field especially in clinical nutrition setting, and to become an RD. My long-term career goals are to become Certified Diabetes Educator, to engage and serve in community nutrition, and to promote wellness and preventive health care for socio-economically and culturally fragile populations. The U.S. population has become increasingly diverse in ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, I believe that providing patient-centered education with respect on the differences of cultural, religious, and dietary practices are the keys to becoming a successful educator in nutrition counseling and education.

Pollan believes that Western diet is the primary cause of many of the different ailments that are impacting contemporary society. A few of the most notable include: heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. This is because there is no vested interest in supporting primary care and preventive medicine. As the health care industry wants to create drugs that can treat these conditions. Yet, they do not deal with the root causes of the problem. Instead, they allow the individual to engage in a pattern of destructive lifestyle choices. This increases the profit margins for everyone inside the health care industry by taking this approach. (Pollan)

However, this can be hard to promote if a community such as Germantown experiences such health disparities that puts them at risk for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, all of which could be preventable. Therefore, as nurses we can intervene and plan ways to improve the health of Germantown in the most realistic way possible. The nursing intervention to help try and eliminate the health disparity of knowledge deficit related to nutritious foods primarily focuses on education, as it is a primary means of impacting change. Our intervention would be implemented through an educational program at multiple community locations such as school or churches. The program would consist of weekly meetings discussing the characteristics of a healthy diet, how to read food labels correctly, picking the right food choices based on the options available in the community, and informing the participants about the impacts nutrition has on health such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Each session would encompass pre-briefing followed by demonstration of healthy food recipes and then a debriefing to reiterate the importance of that session. Through education, we hope to impact more people of Germantown to use the public transportation to shop at the local farmer's market or supermarkets and have a positive change in their health. Therefore, there shall be a decreased incidence in obesity, hypertension, and diabetes and increase in the community’s knowledge about obtaining nutritional

These efforts to improve health have sparked a beginning to The Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which is a public-private partnership that has leveraged over $1 billion to support over 200 projects in over 30 states since 2011 to improve access to healthy foods in low-income communities. Pilot studies for the Philadelphia Healthy Corner Store Initiative, now bringing healthier products to over 600 corner stores, showed a 60% increase in the sales of fresh produce. In addition, they demonstrated increased local economic activity and jobs and generation of local tax revenue (Heiman, Artiga 2015). The social impact on obesity continues to challenge the health care systems and must be recognized that all aspects of well-being play a major role a more positive

Patient’s diets have changed over the last 100 years and have created a large increase in chronic illnesses and higher needs for medical care. This demand has created the need for a much greater system of healthcare that includes hospitals, providers, and insurance companies.

There were neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia where residents couldn’t easily buy healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. And science shows us that people who live in these underserved neighborhoods are more at risk for serious diet-related diseases like obesity(Food Trust website). They began with one farmers market at Tasker Homes, a public housing development in South Philadelphia. Once a week, with the help of the Tasker Homes Tenant Council, they set up one long table overflowing with produce. It happened to be the only source of fresh fruits and vegetables in the community. The Food Trust works with neighborhoods, schools, grocers, farmers and policymakers in Philadelphia and across the country to change how we all think about healthy food and to increase its availability. The Food Trust efforts with its partners resulted in the creation of the Fresh Food Financing Initiative. It was the nations first statewide financing program to increase supermarket development in underserved areas. The Food Trust is a nonprofit organization that continues to ensure that all children who live in communities have access to safe, healthy and affordable food. Their key goal of this project is to stimulate the development of supermarkets in lower-income neighborhoods.

To combat the rise of obesity, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health launched the “Get Healthy Philly” program, which started in 2010. It was a remarkable initiative that brought together the government, community organizations, schools, and private sectors. The program promoted a healthy lifestyle, which included healthy eating, active living and smoke-free areas. The goal of the program was to increase life expectancy and reduce disease, disability and premature death. (Public Health, 2010) Corner stores provided a supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, and schools helped provide healthy snack and nutrition to students.

Public health should influence the direction of healthcare and medicine. It is because of this belief I’m passionate about attending a graduate program that emphasizes not only the importance of quantitative methodology, but also the importance of understanding the biology and etiology of disease. Through pursuing my XXXXXX I plan to study the dietary and nutritional determinants of chronic disease prevention. I hope to gain a thorough understanding of chronic diseases as well as the training, skills, and tools required to be successful in asking questions, analyzing problems and researching various solutions. This, in turn, will allow me to contribute to identifying new diagnostic and prognostic indicators for disease, mediators of disease processes, and clinical and population-level

Throughout my high school career, I volunteered at a local nursing home called the Emerald House. There I would help serve the residents food every Friday. I also had the chance to shadow a registered dietitian who worked at the Emerald House. It was interesting to me how she individually tailored every person’s meal and how each person was taken care of. She would also explain why certain residents could not have certain foods and the science behind why they could not.

According to Pender, Murdaugh, and Parsons (2015), an individual client is assessed depending on the physiological fitness, nutrition status, social and spiritual health, lifestyle and life stressors. Therefore, a holistic approach to assessing health can lead to a better health promotion strategy and improved client outcomes. “High Blood Pressure Health Risk Calculator” tools developed by AHA and ASA successfully addresses the physiological aspect of the client health by considering height, weight, blood pressure, and by recommending regular physical activity as well as other lifestyle changes related to physical health. The tool also addresses the nutritional aspect of the client health by recommending the intake of

According to our instructor Teresa Huber, this population struggles with drug addiction, smoking and have little to no access to healthy food and healthcare. By educating this population, individuals will become more aware of the risk factors associated with high blood pressure and the importance of getting their blood pressure readings done regularly. With this knowledge, clients will be able to prevent hypertension and/or other complications associated with high blood pressure such as stroke. By making resources readily available with handouts and referrals this will help better educate clients on where to go when blood pressure readings become abnormal.

This paper is the requirement for RN 101 class. The paper is from a Nursing Journal 2015 Volume 45 Number 1, Pages 28 – 33, written by Kristine Anne Scordo and Kim Anne Pickett, both are Registered Nurses. They explained in this Article about how to manage hypertension before it will be to late and can lead to cardiovascular disease.

That’s why a diet for high blood pressure was developed by the government’s Department of Health and Human Services. It’s the DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.

The participants in this project will be invited to the clinic and their baseline blood pressure reading determine using a validated and automated blood pressure measuring device at the clinic on the first day of the meeting. The Omron (HEM-711AC) blood pressure monitor will also be used to measure the blood pressure of all the participants’ pre and post intervention. The OMRON (HEM-711AC) blood pressure device has been tested and validated for accuracy (Artigao, et al., 2000; Willis, Mohamed, & Taylor, 2013). The individuals in the intervention group will be coached on how to self-measure their blood pressures at home. The data collected prior to the beginning of the project will be compared with the data collected after the implementation of the project. The project will be implemented following the approval from the Chamberlain Institute of Review Board at the end of February 2017.